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Subject to parliamentary approval, we will begin making payments of Winter Heating Payment in February 2023. We are reliant on DWP meeting their commitment to provide us with the right data by 31 January so that we can complete the necessary assurance and processing of payments to around 400,000 eligible people across Scotland. While it will therefore not be possible to make payments sooner this winter, we have committed to exploring the feasibility of bringing forward the payment date in future years.

Separately, in response to the energy crisis we have doubled the Fuel Insecurity Fund to £20 million to ensure support continues to be available to people affected by the rising energy costs and struggling with their bills this winter.

Social Landlords are required to meet the Scottish Housing Quality Standard (SHQS), which is monitored by The Scottish Housing Regulator(SHR). SHR wrote to all Social Landlords on 1 December 2022 on the importance of having appropriate, proactive systems to identify and deal with any reported cases of mould and damp timeously and effectively. The Regulator will also be working with the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) and the Association of Local Authority Chief Housing Officers (ALACHO) to identify and promote good practice in the management of mould and dampness. Scottish Government officials will keep in close touch with the progress of this work.

We expect around 400,000 people to receive our Winter Heating Payment each year, more than double the 185,000 people who on average have received Cold Weather Payments over the last 7 years.

The Scottish Government is aware of the decline of wading birds in Scotland. Wading bird ecology is complicated and varies between species. However, it appears wader declines in Scotland are linked to low breeding success which could be due a range of reasons. The changes in the Scottish countryside in recent decades has resulted in many wader habitats being lost. Some of this loss is the result of land management changes designed to increase agricultural efficiency. Increased afforestation also appears to adversely affect waders which naturally prefer landscapes with fewer trees. Higher numbers of generalist predators in the countryside may also leading to the waders that do nest from successfully producing young.

The Terrestrial Breeding Birds Official Statistic 1994-2021 was recently published by NatureScot https://www.nature.scot/doc/official-statistic-terrestrial-breeding-birds-2022

The latest figures (1994-2021) show that the decline in wetland birds is 17% rather than the 19% shown when compared to the 2019 value. Note that direct comparisons with the previous figure of 19% (1994-2019) are not possible due to the way the data are calculated.

The Scottish Government supports the work being done by Working for Waders initiative which was started in 2017 to tackle the decline of wading birds across Scotland. The project is open to anyone with an interest in waders and is currently co-chaired by SRUC and NatureScot, which includes public bodies, and is supported by conservation organisations, research organisations, individual farmers, gamekeepers and birdwatchers. The Working for Waders Action Groups are focusing on collaborative on-the-ground work, predator control, habitat management and developing best practice with a view to addressing the decline in our waders.

The Scottish Government also provides support to farmers, crofters and land managers through its Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS). The scheme encourages land management practices which can directly/indirectly benefit water birds, as well as other wildlife.

The Species on the Edge project, which is a partnership of NatureScot and seven conservation charities, is dedicated to improving habitats for 37 priority species. This includes enhancing habitat quality and availability; sowing and growing vital host and food plants for vulnerable species; excluding predators from sensitive sites; and removing invasive non-native species which will also benefit other wildlife including water birds. https://www.nature.scot/scotlands-biodiversity/species-edge-sote/species-edge-about-project

The Scottish Government has also made a commitment to invest at least £65m in multi-year funding available through the Nature Restoration Fund which specifically funds the restoration of habitats across Scotland, including coastal habitats, thereby helping to address declines in water birds. Since its launch in 2021, we have started over 100 projects, putting Scotland’s species, habitats and seas back on the road to recovery.

The Scottish Government recognises that, despite declining cash usage across the country, any reduction in a local area’s ATMs will add to the uncertainty that a community faces on their ability to easily access cash and other banking services.

Whilst the Scottish Government hasn’t undertaken specific economic analysis of declining ATM’s in Lanarkshire, we have, with the limited powers available, delivered reliefs for ATM sites in Scotland to improve their commercial viability. This includes ensuring sites in rural areas are exempt from business rates where the building is used only for the ATM and, more widely, there is 100% rates relief available to ATM sites through the Small Business Bonus Scheme. Ultimately, however, the regulation of financial services is reserved to the UK Government and Scottish Ministers cannot intervene in the commercial decisions made by financial services firms to remove ATM’s.

We welcome the provisions around protecting access to cash in the Financial Services and Markets Bill introduced to the UK Parliament this year and we support industry initiatives, including the work of the Post Office and UK Finance’s Cash Action Group, that are aimed at improving access to cash across the country. Through the industries work, local communities can now apply to have their cash access independently reviewed and have new ATMs, or other services, installed should the current cash access be deemed poor. My officials will provide further detail to your office on how communities in your region can apply for these reviews.

The Scottish Government will continue to work constructively with the UK Government on ensuring access to cash is protected for those who need it in Scotland and, through our regular engagement with the financial services industry, we will urge banks and ATM providers to listen to, and address, the very real concerns customers have on accessing cash in their local communities.

This information is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. As independent organisations, individual Rape Crisis Centres manage and monitor their own waiting lists and will hold up-to-date information of waiting times.

The Scottish Government constantly reviews its policies to provide an open and transparent government approach to how its information is managed. We are committed to being open and transparent as set out in The Open Government Action Plan and on the Scottish Government website.

We allow the installation of mobile messaging applications on business mobile devices to support the business of the Scottish Government. Installation of such applications is covered by the Scottish Government's IT Code of Conduct and Mobile Services Employee Agreement.

The Scottish Government is committed to maintaining complete and comprehensive records of key conversations and decisions in line with the Scottish Government Corporate Records Management Policy.

As I have previously said , we have committed to undertaking a programme of work and analysis to better understand Scotland’s energy requirements as we transition to net zero and how this aligns with our climate change targets. We continue to engage with BOGA and as part of a wider programme of analysis and engagement with a range of organisations and stakeholders.

The safety of patients and staff within our A&E Departments is paramount. This is why the Scottish Government is providing Boards facing the greatest challenges, including University Hospital Monklands and Forth Valley Royal Hospital, with enhanced support over the winter period. The level of delayed discharge is driving up A&E long waits, which is why we are working jointly with Health Boards and Health and Social Care Partnerships to ensure people leave hospital without delay, freeing up vital beds for those who need them most.

Since the beginning of 2021, HIS has been carrying out COVID-19 focused inspections of acute hospitals, using methodology adapted from their previous ‘safe and clean’ inspections. As at November 2022, HIS have carried out nine Safe Delivery of Care acute hospital inspections.

Through our £600 million winter plan we are recruiting 1,000 new NHS staff. Additionally our £50 million Urgent and Unscheduled Care Collaborative looks to drive down A&E waits by improving the systems and processes to deliver better communications and robust escalation. This approach also aims to reduce unnecessary attendances through redesign of urgent care which signposts people to more appropriate care, avoiding admission where possible through Hospital at Home and our Out-patient Antimicrobial Therapy service which allows patients to be treated at home or in the community, ensuring people are discharged as soon as fit and ready.

Our Right Care Right Place media campaign aims to help the public to better understand the healthcare services available to them so they can make more informed choices about the right care in the right place for their specific health care needs which is not always emergency care.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-12950 on 21 December 2022. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers
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